Looking for a great movie this All Hallows’ Eve? We have got you covered with ten diverse, freaky, and formidable Halloween Night Horrors. From a vampiric road trip to a faulty ski-lift and a sutured-together face concealed beneath a bright white mask, every movie is a wicked treat.
1. EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960)
Opening in cinemas the same year as Peeping Tom and Psycho, George Franju’s picture courted controversy on release, like its peers. Yet Eyes Without a Face continues to receive far less attention than its peers.
Franju’s complex and multifaceted narrative is laced with discussions of love, loss, guilt, and control. At the same time, its striking, haunting visuals would go on to inspire directors ranging from John Carpenter to John Woo and Edgar Wright.
Often cited as a benchmark of modern horror, Franju’s film is packed with meaning without sacrificing pace. The tension between its artistic merit and the horrific imagery is sutured together, much as Christiane’s face is. Here, its poetic language is full of visual metaphors that deepen its world and the emotional complexity of each character. Everyone has a façade, and no one is who they seem.
The result is a film that demands multiple viewings. Franju’s film is a remarkably complex yet seductively inviting picture that demonstrates the power of horror as an art form.
2. FROZEN (2010)
It was supposed to be a romantic ski trip in the mountains, but right from the outset, Parker O’Neil’s (Emma Bell) romantic break is disrupted by having her boyfriend’s (Kevin Zeger’s) best mate (Shawn Ashmore) in tow. Still, there’s time for romance when they get back home, right? Not if a dodgy ski-lift and pack of ravenous wolves have anything to say about it!
If you hate ski lifts and think they are the most dangerous contraptions ever made, or have a deep-seated fear of wolves, Frozen may be a step too far in your viewing choice! Adam Green’s Frozen is one of the most nerve-shredding films released during 2010, and a movie where you find yourself shrieking at the screen in horror as you watch three twenty-somethings fight for their lives on a stalled ski-lift as the night draws in, and love and friendship become a game of survival. Sometimes, no matter how chivalrous you are, nature and mechanics have other plans!
Frozen was largely overlooked upon its release, yet Green’s movie is a tour de force in terror that will leave you questioning whether to ever get on a ski lift again!
3. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: THE DREAM WARRIORS (1987)
Directed by Chuck Russell, Freddy’s third outing, Dream Warriors, would attempt to reverse much of the criticism levelled at Freddy’s Revenge on and after its release by handing the story-writing duties back to Wes Craven for what was initially planned to be the final outing for Krueger.
Craven and his fellow writer Bruce Wagner would jettison the single heroine or hero and introduce a group of sleep-deprived fighters as co-leads in the battle against Krueger. However, they would reintroduce a series of familiar faces from the first outing to ensure continuity, while allowing cameos by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dick Cavett to boost the humour.
Equally, Dream Warriors would capitalise on the popularity of role-playing games in teen culture, creating a fantasy-laced horror that firmly placed Freddy at the forefront of a changing technological era in filmmaking. The result is a movie that laces sharp humour with teenage fantasy and unforgettable gore.
4. THE TERRIFIER TRILOGY (2016 – PRESENT)
Where do I start when exploring the gore and horror of Damien Leone’s Terrifier? I guess the best place is with the genius of Art the Clown. Devilishly brilliant horror villains are rare; the 70s gave us Leather Face, The Xenomorph and Damien, while the 80s gave us Michael Myers, Chucky, and Freddy Krueger, to name just a few. However, when exploring modern-day monsters who lodge in our collective memories and give us sleepless nights, the list is far shorter, but at the top of that list is Art, played by the brilliant David Howard Thornton.
Art’s bloodlust is already legendary, and his place in horror movie history has been cemented for decades to come in just two bloodcurdling movies. Like his name would suggest, this silent killer clown sees each gore-laden murder he enacts as ‘art’ and ‘entertainment’, joyously carving, castrating, gutting and skinning his victims alive in two movies that push the boundaries of gore on the screen to their very limit. Even those of us with a cast-iron stomach are left feeling queasy after just ten minutes in Art’s presence!
Damien Leone’s Terrifier (2016) introduced us to Art and his bloody world of clown horns, knives and saws in an opening movie that mixed elements of the classic ‘80s slasher movie with a far more ruthless and sharp modern edge, where the audience was never entirely sure whether anyone would walk away from Art in one piece (literally). But it was his sequel in 2022 that genuinely brought this killer clown and the universe surrounding his bag of deadly tricks to life as he expanded Art’s story, further pushed the boundaries of horror and introduced us to Art’s Nancy Thompson, ‘Sienna’ (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam).
Terrifier 2 wasn’t just a huge step up from Terrifier in narrative complexity and world-building, but also a truly disgusting, stomach-churning slice of horror that still lives in my memory, daring me to endure a repeat viewing.
However, if, like me, you thought Terrifier 2 pushed the boundaries of gore to the limit, the dial was about to be turned up even further in the third instalment. Let’s just say a vomit bag may be essential alongside your combo meal. Not only did the gala screening in London see 11 people walk out and one succumb to the need to vomit, but France’s film classification committee gave it an under-18s ban, the first of its kind in almost 20 years!
Can Leone take it even further in a fourth outing? I guess we will find out soon!
5. POLTERGEIST (1982)
In 1982, Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper combined their talents for Poltergeist, with Hooper’s eye for classic horror dovetailing with Spielberg’s fierce imagination and technical prowess. The result was a scary, fun, and unexpected rollercoaster ride full of our deepest childhood and adult fears. In Hooper and Spielberg’s world, toys come alive, a paranormal beast hides in the closet, a terrifying tree invades the safety of a child’s bedroom, and a child is taken from the safety of a loving family home.
There are echoes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Twilight Zone and The Changeling (also based on the alleged Cheesman Park haunting) in Poltergeist. However, while many argue that Poltergeist’s true terror lies in the classic family-invasion trope, at its heart, Poltergeist is a maternal horror. It’s JoBeth Williams who sits centre stage as she fights to bring her child home from a spiritual abduction, with the film’s final scenes akin to childbirth as a middle-class American mother fights an unseen force to protect her child at any cost.
Poltergeist gave rise to a host of supernatural horrors, including The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity, and Insidious. But no film since has captured the atmosphere, the fun, or the maternal terror at the heart of Hooper and Spielberg’s film, making Poltergeist one of the most influential horror movies ever made.
6. PET SEMATARY (1989)
Pet Sematary is undoubtedly one of Stephen King’s more gruesome outings. Pet Sematary laces the grief and pain of losing a loved one with the selfish need to turn back time. However, death cannot be cheated without a devastating price, and we soon learn that sometimes “dead is better”. The book has two cinematic outings (1989 and 2019). Still, for me, Mary Lambert’s 1989 version remains the most faithful to Stephen King’s material, as Lambert brutally submerges Lewis Creed and his family in an escalating terror born of tragedy.
7. CANDYMAN (1992)
Candyman was born in the imagination of the formidable Clive Barker in The Books of Blood (1984-1985). Barker’s original story took place on a Liverpool housing estate as residents investigated the urban legend of a local serial killer. However, British director Bernard Rose (Paper House) relocated the action to 1990s Chicago, creating a folk horror rooted in social themes of poverty, crime, and racial oppression —themes that remain just as urgent today as they were in the post-Reagan era.
Candyman’s horror comes from mixing urban legend with the uncomfortable reality of a racially divided America. Once seen and never forgotten, Candyman is a genuinely unique horror film that has earned its place among the finest movies of the early 1990s.
8. DOCTOR SLEEP (2019)
It’s no secret that King wasn’t a fan of Kubrick’s 1980 version of his 1977 novel, The Shining, or that King’s 2013 sequel to his book, Doctor Sleep, was always going to be challenging to adapt because Kubrick’s masterpiece deviated from his material. Therefore, it is fair to say that director Mike Flanagan had a tough job when he took on Doctor Sleep; after all, how do you please the die-hard fans of Kubrick’s 1980 film and those who loved King’s 1977 and 2013 novels?
Mike Flanagan managed the balancing act and delivered one of the best and most underrated horror films of 2019. Flanagan’s movie captures the beauty and terror of Kubrick’s 1980 horror masterpiece while honouring Stephen King’s sequel, creating a bridge between the two.
Flanagan and King introduce us to one of the most terrifying characters of recent years, Rose the Hat, played brilliantly by Rebecca Ferguson, but it is a young Jacob Tremblay who makes this a terrifying work of genius. In a single scene, a talented young actor, an experienced ensemble and a visionary director offer us one of the most horrific, powerful and nerve-shredding sequences ever committed to film.
9. TRICK R’ TREAT (2007)
Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat is one of the best Halloween night movies ever made. Drawing clear inspiration from Creepshow, Dougherty’s anthology is filled with dark humour, jump scares, and delicious comic-book horror. It’s a sublime blood-soaked homage to EC Comics, ’80s slashers, and ’70s TV horror. However, Trick ‘r Treat is at its most fascinating when lacing its horror with a nod to A Christmas Carol as we are introduced to one of the creepiest and weirdly cute killers ever committed to film, Sam, the spirit of Halloween past and present.
So grab some pumpkin-shaped snacks, dim the lights and enter a world of glorious Halloween-inspired comic book horror with Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat.
10. NEAR DARK (1987)
Near Dark may not have achieved commercial success upon its 1987 release, but it has since become a cult classic. Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 vampire western would blend horror and romance with the classic road movie, creating a unique vampire film that gave birth to a whole new style of cinema. Beneath its vampiric horror, Near Dark explores themes of family, belonging, and personal identity as Caleb Colton joins a nomadic vampire clan, his past human life colliding with his new existence.
Bigelow’s film shares many similarities with classic LGBTQ+ dramas, as it explores the importance of found family for those cast as outsiders. Much like The Lost Boys, Near Dark is a fascinating queer horror, despite never being labelled as such. Coupled with a score by ‘Tangerine Dream’, Bigelow’s nomadic vampire classic would inspire many films and TV shows, from First Blood to Bones and All. Like The Lost Boys, released the same year, it would reinvent the vampire and shift the narrative towards something gritty, human, and bold.
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